Overview
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told international officials on Thursday that he was the subject of an assassination attempt two hours after being sworn into office, a revelation he used to underline the threat of left-wing political violence.
- Federal prosecutors say Ryan Michael English traveled to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 27, 2025 carrying a folding knife and two improvised incendiary devices, then approached a Capitol Police officer to turn himself in and later pleaded guilty to related federal charges.
- English admitted investigators that he intended to kill a Cabinet nominee or attack a Washington think tank, prosecutors recovered a note referencing opposition to “nazis,” and he is scheduled for federal sentencing on Aug. 14.
- Bessent made the disclosure at a State Department ministerial attended by roughly 65 countries and said the incident shows violent political extremism from the left is a real threat while pushing back on critics who downplay such violence.
- As a result, the Treasury will expand efforts to identify tax-exempt nonprofits and charitable structures that could be abused to finance violence or foreign-influence operations, a move that could increase scrutiny of grants, banking flows, and nonprofit compliance and reshape how charities are monitored.